7 Days in Anshun

Carved dragon columns at the Ming temple, a snack crawl down Rulin Road, then an evening loop of Hongshan Lake.

1. anshun confucian temple
2. anshun rulin old street
3. anshun hongshan lake

Go at opening for Water Curtain Cave behind the main fall; the wide Doupotang terrace is a Journey to the West filming spot.

1. Huangguoshu Waterfall
2. anshun doupotang waterfall

Morning stepping stones and Silver Chain Falls, then a viewpoint over the Baling River Bridge, whose deck hangs more than 300 metres above the gorge.

1. anshun tianxingqiao
2. anshun balinghe bridge

Boat through the flooded caves, the Longmen entrance waterfall and the vast Guanyin cave temple; an easy half day, with a slow lunch back in town.

1. anshun longgong dragon palace

Shitouzhai's all-stone houses and waterwheels, then the hill-wrapped courtyard village of Gaodang with its old watchtower.

1. anshun shitouzhai village
2. anshun gaodang village

A long driving day — Triassic marine reptiles some 220 million years old in the morning, then the kilometre-deep Beipan River gorge and its Qing-era chain bridge.

1. anshun guanling fossil geopark
2. anshun huajiang grand canyon

Ming-era lanes at Yunshan Tun and towered courtyards at Benzhai, then a spicy-chicken lunch in Jiuzhou before the evening train from Anshun West.

1. anshun yunfeng tunpu
2. anshun jiuzhou ancient town